# Advertising - impact of pitch on your buying decisions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 29, 2015, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-impact-of-pitch-on-your-buying-decisions/716290 "2015-03-29T19:49:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-impact-of-pitch-on-your-buying-decisions/716290/41 "2015-03-31T18:51:32Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > That is a kick butt commercial, the lighting, grainy film, locker room feel, the delivery. My favorite _go with the Flo_ moment. Like **TriPolar** it’s probably going to take a lot more than an amusing commercial to sway me in an insurance purchase (my agent and I discuss a number of factors in the bundle) but I am planning on going to a Fiesta supermarket to buy some homemade tamale fixins just because it’s got a sharp dressed [Billy Gibbons as pitchman](http://www.lockebryan.com/fiesta-billy-gibbons-tamale-cooking/). Have mercy. Unless like me you thought she was saying ‘sprinkles are for women’ :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-impact-of-pitch-on-your-buying-decisions/716290/42 "2015-03-31T18:53:07Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > That’s pretty sad. I’ve never felt bad for 5 million people before, and I don’t like it. Buying Facebook likes is pretty **[simple](http://www.buylikes.reviews/)**, even leaders of countries do it — $20 per 1000 is reasonable — not that a reputable insurance company would sink so low. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-impact-of-pitch-on-your-buying-decisions/716290/43 "2015-03-31T18:58:11Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > Buying Facebook likes is pretty **[simple](http://www.buylikes.reviews/)**, even leaders of countries do it — $20 per 1000 is reasonable — not that a reputable insurance company would sink so low. I think it is pretty likely that those likes are legit. I think a lot of people really enjoy the Flo ads. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-impact-of-pitch-on-your-buying-decisions/716290/44 "2015-03-31T19:31:00Z")
Another one here for whom the most likely outcome to remembered ad pitches is aversion to the product. I’m one of those annoyingly sanctimonious non-TV-watchers so the products I recoil from because of their ads are mostly still reaping the harvest of ads they put on TV decades ago: MacDonalds, Procter & Gamble, Pepto-Bismol, … if I were in the market for stereo equipment and the guy were still in business, I’d not be buying mine from Crazy Eddie… I’m a bit past the target audience for toy purchases but mine would not be from Mattel… etc ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-impact-of-pitch-on-your-buying-decisions/716290/45 "2015-03-31T19:41:14Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > Buying Facebook likes is pretty **[simple](http://www.buylikes.reviews/)**, even leaders of countries do it — $20 per 1000 is reasonable — not that a reputable insurance company would sink so low. No, they wouldn’t, because it would be a terrible investment - their Facebook[EdgeRank](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EdgeRank) would be incredibly low, and the content Progressive wants circulated would not get circulated. ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-impact-of-pitch-on-your-buying-decisions/716290/46 "2015-03-31T20:07:53Z")
Over here there’s a cleaning fluid called Cillit Bang. For a while their entire ad campaign consisted of some guy shouting at you **HI I’M BARRY SCOTT CILLIT BANG IS AMAZING BECAUSE BLAH BLAH BLAH BUY CILLIT BANG** while you frantically lunged for the sound button on your remote. I still don’t know who the fuck Barry Scott is or why I should care what he thinks. I do know I will never, ever, ever be buying Cillit Bang. ---
**Author:** ![buddy431](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@buddy431](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddy431)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-impact-of-pitch-on-your-buying-decisions/716290/47 "2015-03-31T20:31:52Z")
Everyone says advertising doesn’t affect them or turns them off to a product, but it obviously works for some people. There are genuinely bad ad campaigns that turn people off to a product, but Flo is not one of them. I have Geico insurance. It’s not that I particularly like the Gecko, but it sure made me know about them. When it came time to buy insurance, they gave me a pretty good rate, and I recognized the name, so they’re who I went with. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-impact-of-pitch-on-your-buying-decisions/716290/48 "2015-04-01T18:07:19Z")
> [@eclectic\_wench](#): > > Over here there’s a cleaning fluid called Cillit Bang… > > **CILLIT BANG IS AMAZING…CILLIT BANG** > …Cillit Bang. This is the cleverest product name ever. I’m sure most males see that name as “Clit Bang”. So their brains automatically go, “Yes please.” Also the cleverest ad ever. It does not need fancy advertising. Its’ name alone sells it. So a guy shouting its’ name at you so you want him to shut up makes you do a Fry from Futurama and your brain says, “SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!.” [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QfSzgV1q5g) ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-impact-of-pitch-on-your-buying-decisions/716290/49 "2015-04-01T22:35:56Z")
_snort_ The only thing is that you don’t see the product name, just hear it, and it’s pronounced ‘SILL-it Bang’ (except with the volume up to eleven), not ‘Kill-IT Bang’. So I’m not sure the subliminal message would really make it in there. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-impact-of-pitch-on-your-buying-decisions/716290/50 "2015-04-02T00:09:18Z")
The pitch can make me not be interested, especially if it is full of holes in logic. The pitchperson won’t affect me at all, I’ve sat in enough casting directors waiting rooms to see the actor or actress as someone who needs to eat. The Flo character is annoying, but doesn’t affect me. The Erin Esurance character might have been too attractive. If the kind of stuff that sprung up around her has sprung up around Flo I don’t want to know about it. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-impact-of-pitch-on-your-buying-decisions/716290/51 "2015-04-02T12:07:58Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > The Flo character is annoying, but doesn’t affect me. The Erin Esurance character might have been too attractive. If the kind of stuff that sprung up around her has sprung up around Flo I don’t want to know about it. Woah, I had no idea [that](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/esurance-axes-erin-after-the-secret-agent-took-on-an-x-rated-life-of-her-own/) had even happened. The concept that companies let go of their brand and let consumers own them… it’ll be interesting to see where that goes and who participates in the process. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-impact-of-pitch-on-your-buying-decisions/716290/52 "2015-04-02T12:45:34Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > I think it is pretty likely that those likes are legit. I think a lot of people really enjoy the Flo ads. She [sure seemed to have her fans here at the SDMB](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=513859) back in the day. I don’t mind Flo. And, heck, I like the Geico ads. They’re one of the few ads I tune in to watch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advertising-impact-of-pitch-on-your-buying-decisions/716290.md?page=2)